Coin holder



April 15, 1969 R A. BENNETT 3,438,479

COIN HOLDER Filed Dec. 6, 1967 FIG. 2

I v gigg'migggggnwrmamawqg-ggoj INVENTOR ROBERT A. BENNETT BY W4; mag

ATTO RNEYS United States Patent 3,438,479 COIN HOLDER Robert A. Bennett,38 Falmouth Drive, Shelton, Conn. 06484 Filed Dec. 6, 1967, Ser. No.688,471 Int. Cl. A45

US. Cl. 206-.83 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A coin holder ofplastic material which can be made by vacuum forming in which coins ofdifferent denominations are held tilted at an angle in separatecompartments for easy insertion and removal.

The present invention relates to coin holders and more particularly to acoin holder which can be made in an inexpensive manner, for example, byvacuum forming. In accordance with the invention, a one-piece coinholder is provided having a plurality of separate compartments. Eachcompartment is formed with a plurality of steps and the compartment sidewalls adjacent the steps are deformable and have projections thereon tohold the coin within the compartment on a respective step. When so heldthe coins are presented in a manner by which they can be easily removedfrom the holder. The holder is also provided with an adhesive backing sothat the holder can be placed permanently or semi-permanently in a givenlocation.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to pro vide aninexpensive coin holder which can be made in one-piece and of plasticmaterial.

An additional object is to provide an inexpensive plastic coin holderwhich can be vacuum formed.

Another object is to provide a coin holder formed with a number ofseparate compartments, each compartment holding a particular coindenomination.

A further object is to provide a plastic coin holder in which the coinsare presented to the user at an angle for easy removal.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become moreapparent from reference to the following specification and annexeddrawings, in which FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the coin holder of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the coin holder taken in section alonglines 1-1 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side view; and

FIG. 4 is a front view of the coin holder.

Refering to the drawings, the coin holder 10 of the present invention isa one-piece member having a peripheral base or pedestal with respectivefront, rear and side portions 12, 14, .16 and 18. Extending above thebase 12, 14, 16 and 18 and supported on corresponding connected andslanted front, rear and side walls, 22, 24, 26 and 28 is a platform 20.The raised platform illustratively has three depressed compartments 30,32 and 34 formed therein, each compartment having a width generallycorresponding to a particular coin denomination to be held. For example,as shown, compartment 30 is sized to hold a United States quarter,compartment 32 a nickel and compartment 34 a dime. As many of thesecompartments can be provided as desired, and, for example, compartmentscan be repeated for the same coin denomination, for example, twocompartments for quarters, two for dimes, etc. The number ofcompartments used is not important to the holder of the presentinvention.

Except for the size of its various parts each compaitment 30, 32 and 34is of the same construction and includes a pair of side walls and 41 anda bottom wall formed by a number of partially circular steps 43. Onlythe compartment 30 is described below, it being understood that theother compartments are of the same construction. The rear step of thebottom wall 43, that is, the step closest to the rear wall 24 terminatesin an upwardly extending rear wall 42 which is spaced inwardly fro-m therear platform support wall 24. The rear step which is in the form of asegment of a circle extends toward the front of the holder for adistance about one third, or slightly more, of the entire surface areaof the coin 50 to be held thereon.

The other steps beyond the front of the holder are approximately thesame size with the front step 'being substantially larger in the orderof somewhat more than one half the size of the coin to be held. A shortupstanding wall 43a, which is slightly higher than the thickness of thecoin to be held joins the frail edge of one step with the rear edge ofthe next step nearer the front of the holder. It is also preferred thatthe side walls 40 and 41 immediately adjacent the steps 43 be slightlycurved to conform to the periphery of the coin to be held. The curvedside wall conformation is preferably made slightly thicker than thethickness of the coin.

As seen in FIG. 2 the steps 43 are generally parallel to each other andare tilted upwardly at an angle with respect to the platform 20 and theperipheral base 12, 14, 16 and 18. The rear step walls 4311 are alsoparallel to each other. Thus when a coin 50 rests on a step, it istilted with respect to the platform area 20.

The coin holder 10 of the present invention is preferably produced by avacuum forming operation and is made of any suitable plastic material,for example, styrene, polyethylene, rubberized plastic, etc. Theparticular material used is not critical although it has been found thatpolyethylene with a slight amount of rubber has been particularlysatisfactory. The entire holder is vacuum formed from a single sheet ofplastic material and can be, for example, .010 inch thick. This givesthe side walls and the other parts of the holder some degree ofresiliency and enables them to be deformed.

As seen best in FIGS. 1 and 2, each of the side walls 40 and 41 of arespective compartment has formed thereon a projection 47 which opposesthe projection on the other side wall. The space between opposing sidewalls and the projection 47 is slightly less than the maximum diameterof the coin to be held in a particular compartment. Since the side walls40 and 41 and the projections 47 are resilient and thereby slightlydeformable, the coins may be forced over the projection to rest on astep and are helped by the gripping action of the deformable side walls40 and 41. Each pair of opposing projections47 on the walls 40 and 41prevents the coin held on the corresponding step from falling out of theholder. Thus by the action of both the side walls and the projection 47each coin is held firmly on a step within its compartment.

As shown in FIG. 2 each pair of projections 47 engages and holds a coinlocated on a step removed one to the rear of the corresponding set ofprojections. The projection holds the coin at about its center. Thus,for example, the left-most coin at the front of the holder is held bythe front pair of projections 47, the second coin from the left is heldby the pair of projections over the first step; and so forth. It shouldbe understood that the particular angle of the steps 43 with respect tothe base 12, 14, 16, 18 and the location of the projections determinesthe angle at which the coins protrude from their respective compartmentand that this angle may be selected at will. As indicated previously,the side walls 40 and 41 above each step are curved slightly to conformto the shape of the coin, to grip the coins and hold them on the steps.

The operation of the device is simple, and is as follows. The coins 50are loaded into the respective compartment preferably from front torear, by slipping the coin over a step and then pressing it over thecorresponding pair of projections. A slight rocking motion can be used,if desired, by placing one edge of a coin under the projections 47 ofone side wall and then snapping the other side over the opposingprojection. After the desired number of coins are loaded in therespective compartments, they are removed quite easily by the usersliding or lifting them out one over the projections. Removal preferablyproceeds from the rear to the front of the holder.

As shown in FIG. 2, an adhesive backing 15 is placed on the bottom ofthe peripheral base. The adhesive may be of any suitable type, and is:covered by a paper 17. When it is desired to place the coin holder 10on any desired surface such as on the back of an auto sun visor, it isonly necessary to peel olf the backing 17.

As should be apparent, the coin holder of the present invention iseconomical to produce since it is made of plastic and it can be made byvacuum or pressure forming. This makes it suitable for premiums ofgive-aways. The space on the front of the base portion 12 is suitablefor an advertising message.

What is claimed is:

1. A one piece coin holder having a platform area and a compartmentformed on a level different from said platform area, said compartmenthaving a bottom wall with a plurality of steps each for holding a coin,a pair of opposed, deformable side walls located adjacent said steps,said side walls deforming under the pressure of a coin forcedtherebetween to grip and hold the edge of said coin as it rests on arespective step.

2. The one piece coin holder of claim 1 further comprising a pair ofopposing deformable projections on the side walls for holding each coin.

3. The one piece coin holder of claim 1 wherein said compartment isdepressed with respect to said platform area and the pair of opposingside walls adjacent the steps extend upwardly between the compartmentbottom wall and the platform.

4. The coin holder of claim 3 wherein said steps are angled upwardlywith respect to the platform area.

5. The coin holder of claim 4 wherein said steps are in the shape of apart of a coin to be held thereon.

6. The coin holder of claim '5 wherein the side walls adjacent each stepare curved to conform to the shape of a coin to be held thereby.

7. The one piece coin holder of claim 3 further comprising a pair ofopposing deformable projections on the side walls for holding each coin.

8. The coin holder of claim 7 wherein said steps are angled upwardlywith respect to the platform area.

i9. A coin holder comprising a sheet of thermoformable plastic materialformed to have a compartment having a bottom wall and a pair of sidewalls, said bottom wall also formed with a plurality of steps, each stephaving the shape of at least a portion of a coin, and deformable meanson the side walls for engaging and holding a coin as it rests on arespective step.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,777,575 1/1957 Chamberlin206-.83

FOREIGN PATENTS 770,443 6/ 1934- France.

JAMES B. MARBERT, Primary Examiner.

